Salam alaikum, Is it true that Muslims are not allowed to inherit from non-Muslims? What about Muslim reverts? What if a Muslim revert could pay off a loan with the inherited money, is it still not allowed for him to inherit? Do the Madhabs have different views on that? Salam alaikum Nuha

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The Sunnah proved that there is no mutual inheritance between Muslims and non-Muslims, so a Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim and a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim. Usaamah Ibn Zayd narrated that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  said: “A Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim and a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Moreover, the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  said: ''People of two different religions do not inherit from each other.” [Ahmad, Ibn Maajah and At-Tirmithi] What is meant here by "two different religions" is Islam and any religion other than it.

As regards whether or not there is a disagreement of opinion on this matter, then there is no disagreement on the issue that it is not permissible for a non-Muslim to inherit a Muslim. So, if a Muslim dies, it is not permissible for his non-Muslim relative to inherit from him. Ibn Qudaamah said in Al-Mughni: “The scholars agreed in a consensus that a non-Muslim does not inherit from a Muslim.”

As regards a Muslim inheriting from his non-Muslim relative, then this is not permissible according to the view of the majority of scholars,  . These include the Imaams of the Four Schools of Jurisprudence and their followers, and this is also the apparent meaning of the Hadeeth.

However, another group of scholars are of the view that a Muslim inherits from his non-belligerent non-Muslim testator; this is the view of Mu’aath Ibn Jabal, Mu’aawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyaan, Muhammad Ibn Al-Hanafiyyah, Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Al-Husayn, Sa’eed Ibn Al-Musayyab, and Masrooq Ibn Al-Ajda’ ; this is also the chosen opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah . So, these scholars said: “We inherit from the non-Muslims but they do not inherit from us, in the same manner that we marry women from their religions (the People of the Book, i.e. Christians and Jews) but they do not marry our women.” These scholars interpreted the saying of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: 'A Muslim does not inherit from a non-Muslim’ to mean the belligerent non-Muslim and not the Thimmi (i.e. the non-Muslim who is living in a Muslim state), the hypocrite and the apostate.

They provided the evidence that the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, used to apply the apparent Islamic rulings upon the hypocrites in the same way they were applied to Muslims; so they inherited from the Muslims and they were inherited from by them. Indeed, ‘Abdullah Ibn Ubayy died, as well as others whom the Quran testified to being hypocrites, and the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was forbidden to offer the funeral prayer for them, or to seek forgiveness for them, but his (Ibn Ubayy's) Muslim heirs inherited from him. To conclude, there is a strong and old difference of opinion on this issue.

Hence, if a relative of a new Muslim dies, then this new Muslim does not inherit from his non-Muslim relative according to the view of the majority of scholars. However, according to the other view, he can inherit from his deceased non-Muslim relative if the latter was not belligerent, as we have already discussed.

On the other hand, if his relative wrote a will and bequeathed something to him before his death, then this is a valid will. This is because the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam,  forbade a Muslim inheriting from a non-Muslim and vice-versa but he did not forbid accepting the terms of a will.

Ibn Qudaamah said in his book entitled Al-Mughni: “The will of a Muslim for a Thimmi is valid, and the will of a Thimmi for a Muslim is also valid, but it cannot be valid except in the same manner like the validity of a will from a Muslim to another Muslim. In case he makes a will for his heir or for a person who is not entitled to inherit from him (i.e. a non-heir) with more than a third of the inheritance, then this depends on the approval of the other heirs, exactly like the case of the Muslim [i.e. in regard to another Muslim heir].” For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 87165 and 96163.

Allaah Knows best.